This invention relates to an applicator mechanism driven by a tractor or other land vehicle for introducing a fluid chemical such as a pesticide or fertilizer into turf of the type found on a golf course, athletic field, sod farm or other grass covered area. The mechanism is also suitable for introducing a fluid containing beneficial organisms into the turf.
Large grass covered expanses are commonly found on golf courses, athletic fields, sod farms and other locations. Many turf surfaces require regular treatment with fertilizers and pesticides. Golf course grasses are particularly susceptible to damage from worm-like pests known as nematodes. These minute creatures tend to attack the roots of the grass and can cause extensive and very costly damage to fairways, greens and other areas of a golf course. Over the years, nematodes have built up a high level of resistance to many types of pesticides and have become very difficult to eradicate.
Conventionally, golf courses and other grass covered areas have been treated for nematodes and like by chemicals such as Nemicure(trademark) or Mocap(trademark). Nemicure(trademark) is typically sprayed topically onto the area to be treated. This is a difficult and delicate procedure that is likely to fail if too much is applied and especially if the treated area is exposed to intense sunlight. Accordingly, this type of chemical must be carefully monitored and is utilized only when weather conditions permit. Moreover, pesticides applied topically to the grass present a toxic risk to birds and animals and are generally unsatisfactory from an environmental perspective. These topical chemicals exhibit a strong unpleasant odor. Pests such as nematodes have developed a strong resistance to virtually all of these chemicals.
Alternatively, pesticides such as Telone(trademark) based Curfew(trademark) and Vapam(trademark) based Turfcure(trademark) have been developed which are injected beneath the turf. These based products are usually introduced into the soil at spot intervals. The chemical vaporizes and disburses through the turf so that nematodes and similar pests are killed. Unfortunately, this technique has a number of shortcomings. The chemical pesticide tends to spread only a few inches from the release point. As a result, to fully and successfully treat an area, a large number of closely spaced injection points are required. The treatment operation therefore tends to be very time and labor intensive. Controlling the proper amount of injected pesticide is also very difficult. If an insufficient amount is introduced, the nematodes are not eliminated; however, injecting too much chemical may severely damage the grass and again presents serious environmental hazards. Moreover, when the injection equipment is removed from the soil, chemical residue tends to be deposited and left on the surface of the grass. The liquid chemical also vaporizes and is apt to work its way to the top of the turf, which presents an additional danger that the grass will be permanently harmed. All of these factors, as well as the restricted, unsatisfactory disbursement of the injected chemical, have severely limited the effectiveness of this technique.
In an attempt to improve the application of chemicals to grass covered areas, an articulated tractor has been developed. This machine employs a row or gang of axially aligned, rotatable disks or coulters suspended from a supporting frame or tool bar. A knife mounted chemical injector is carried behind each coulter. The machine cuts parallel furrows in the turf and injects a pesticide such as TeloneTM(trademark) into these openings. Although chemical injection is somewhat improved, this apparatus is also seriously limited in its effectiveness. It is especially difficult to maneuver the blades freely through curves and tight turns of the type encountered on golf courses and similar grass covered areas. The rotating blades are fixedly orientated relative to the supporting frame and are not permitted to swivel about a vertical axis relative to the frame. As a result, all of the blades must turn together in the direction of travel as the applicator frame turns. This can cause the blades to bind and jam in the turf during turning. Operation is interrupted and delayed while the operator reverses the tractor to free the blades. This binding also tends to rip, tear and damage the turf. Conventional coulter blades are especially likely to jam and bind in the turf because the weight of the frame and the blades bears directly upon the turf. The machine currently available does not employ any apparatus for relieving this pressure and enabling the blades to cut more freely through the turf.
The relatively poor maneuverability of the foregoing chemical applicator is a particularly serious drawback when the machine is used to treat golf courses. These types of grass covered areas normally exhibit a wide variety of winding and rolling topographical features and contours defining the fairways, roughs, greens, etc. A tractor chemically treating the golf course, must be prepared to make many turns. Optimal maneuverability is required. Such maneuverability is simply unavailable using the known applicator machine because that mechanism is so susceptible to coulter binding. This severely limits the amount of acreage the machine can cover in a day.
A further problem with the conventional articulating applicator unit is that it employs a relatively low horsepower tractor. Typically, the mechanism is able to cover and treat an area of only about five acres per day. It may take a week or more to chemically treat an entire golf course. The treatment process is therefore very time consuming, labor intensive and expensive.
I have determined that a need also exists for improved biological treatment of turf. Occasionally, it is desirable to introduce beneficial nematodes into a grass turf in order to attack pests such as mole crickets. Conventionally these beneficial organisms are mixed in a fluid slurry that is applied to the turf by a standard seeder. The depth at which the slurry is introduced into the turf cannot be controlled. As a result, optimally beneficial results are difficult to achieve. Indeed, none of the known machines for chemically or biologically treating turf allow for adjustment of the depth at which the treating substance is disposed so that the most effective treatment possible is achieved.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus for quickly, efficiently and successfully introducing a pesticide, fertilizer or other chemical treatment into a turf surface of the type found on a golf course, athletic field, sod farm or other grass covered area.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a chemical applicator mechanism that introduces chemicals at depths under a turf surface such that improved chemical disbursement and successful treatment are achieved.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a chemical applicator that applies chemicals to a turf surface much more completely, efficiently, safely and effectively than known topical and spot injection application techniques.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a chemical applicator that allows chemicals to be introduced into a turf surface without creating an undue risk of damage to the grass or the surrounding environment.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a chemical applicator that provides much better coverage and chemical disbursement than conventional machines and which significantly reduces the time, labor and expense involved in chemically treating a grass covered area.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a chemical applicator that may be maneuvered quickly and effectively over golf courses and other contoured grass covered areas.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a chemical applicator that may be driven over golf courses and other grass covered surfaces without causing undue damage to the turf.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a chemical applicator which permits its cutting disks or coulters to maneuver effectively through a turf surface without excessive binding and jamming and which therefore expedites and facilitates the chemical treatment process while significantly reducing damage to the turf.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a chemical applicator that is especially effective for treating a grassed area with fertilizers and pesticides.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a chemical applicator which is adapted for use with a large horsepowered tractor so that chemical treatment is facilitated and expedited and a much more efficient operation is achieved.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a chemical applicator that may be effectively utilized on grass covered areas having a wide variety of topographies and contours.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a chemical applicator that is particularly successful in eradicating nematodes and similar pests from golf courses and similar grass covered areas.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an apparatus that may be quickly and conveniently adjusted so that a chemical or biological substance may be injected into a turf surface at an optimally desirable and effective depth.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an apparatus for effectively introducing beneficial organisms into a turf surface so that insect pests are successfully eradicated.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a biological organism applicator that exhibits the foregoing advantages.
This invention results from a realization that the maneuverability of a chemical applicator for treating grass covered areas will be improved considerably by mounting the cutting blades or coulters so that they swivel either individually or in pairs relative to the applicator frame. This invention results from the further realization that the applicator will be able to cut much more easily through the soil, without binding or jamming by employing forward gauge wheels and rearward gauge rollers that relieve the pressure that the cutting disks exert on the soil.
This invention features an applicator mechanism used in combination with a land vehicle and a source of a fluid treatment substance (e.g. fertilizer, pesticide, nematode slurry etc.) for introducing the substance into a turf surface so that the surface is treated by the substance. The applicator mechanism includes a frame mountable to the land vehicle. There are rotatable means for movably supporting the frame above the turf surface such that the frame is capable of being driven across the turf surface by the land vehicle. At least one applicator unit is swivelably attached to and depends from the frame. The unit includes a smoothing carriage for movably engaging and bearing against the turf surface. At least one coulter is mounted axially rotatably to the carriage and has a cutting edge that extends below the carriage for engaging and cutting the turf surface. A dispensing device is mounted to the carriage rearwardly of the coulter and extends below the carriage. The dispensing device is communicably interconnectable to the source of fluid treatment substance for introducing the substance into the turf surface cut by the coulter.
In a preferred embodiment, the frame may include a central portion and at least one wing portion that is hingedly mounted to the central portion and selectively pivoted between raised and lowered positions. The rotatable means may include means that are disengaged from the turf surface in the raised position and engaged with the turf surface in the lowered position. At least one applicator unit may carried by the central portion and at least one unit may be carried by each wing portion.
The smoothing carriage may include a sled for slidably engaging the turf and/or one or more rollers for rotatably engaging the turf. The sled may include a longitudinal slot that receives the coulter such that the cutting edge of the coulter extends below the sled. The sled may further include a vertically adjustable slide pad and means for adjusting the height of the slide pad. A forward portion may extend upwardly from the slide pad. The forward portion may include a beveled lower end for flattening obstructions in the turf surface and preventing the turf from bunching. The smoothing roller may be spring biased into engagement with the turf surface. The smoothing device may be vertically adjustable for selectively raising and lowering the depth to which the coulter cuts into the turf.
The applicator unit may further include a pair of substantially parallel, axially interconnected coulters. A swivel assembly may interconnect the frame to the smoothing carriage between the parallel coulters such that the carriage is capable of swiveling about a generally vertical axis relative to the frame. More particularly, the applicator unit may include a mounting member fixedly connected to the smoothing device and to which a first component of the swivel assembly is fixed. The swivel assembly may have a second component that is fixed to the frame and swivelably interengaged with the first component. A plurality of applicator units may be attached to the frame and means may be provided for enabling the units to swivel in unison.
Each applicator unit may include a knife component fixedly attached to and depending below the carriage behind each coulter of the unit. The knife component cuts through the turf after the turf is initially broken by the coulter. Preferably, a dispensing device is mounted on each knife component. A turf compression roller may be carried rotatably by the sled for compressing the turf surface after the turf surface is cut and chemical or other treatment substance is introduced therein.
The rotatable means may include forward gauge wheels that are mounted to a front end portion of the frame such that the gauge wheels are both axially rotatable about a generally horizontal axis and swivelable relative to the frame about a generally vertical axis. The rotatable means may also include rearward gauge rollers axially rotatably supported by a rearward portion of the frame. Means may be provided for adjusting the height of the forward gauge wheels and/or rearward gauge rollers. The gauge wheels and gauge rollers permit the height of the applicator unit to be adjusted so that maneuverability and operability are improved significantly. Specifically, the cutting blades are suspended and adjusted by the gauge wheels and rollers so that the full weight of the blades does not bear into the turf. Binding and jamming are thereby reduced. Such beneficial operation is further improved through the use of relief means for interconnecting the frame to the land vehicle. Such relief means may include a pneumatic or hydraulic accumulator attached to a slotted linkage.
The applicator mechanism may also feature means for selectively purging residual chemical or other treatment substance from the dispensing device. After the treatment is completed, but before the dispensing device is removed from the turf, pressurized gas is introduced through the dispensing device to discharge any fluid remaining in the dispensing device into the ground. As a result, residual and potentially harmful chemicals or other substances do not drip onto the surface of the grass when the applicator units are removed.
The mechanism may include a hinge assembly or other means that permit the applicator unit to move vertically independently of the other applicator units. The hinge assembly may include a pair of plates which hingedly interconnect the frame and the swivel assembly associated with the applicator unit. A locking apparatus may be selectively engaged with the hinge assembly to constrain pivoting of the plates and vertical movement of the applicator unit. The use of an individual hinge assembly for each applicator unit is particularly desirable in a version primarily intended for use on golf course greens and tees.